An indefinite strike that would have brought postal servicesacross India to a halt from tomorrow onwards has been averted by a last-minute agreement.
Postal unions represented through the Postal Joint Council ofAction (JCA) had called the all-out indefinite strike from July 5, 2011, in protest at a majorrestructuring recommended by international consultants McKinsey. Numerous negotiations during Junefailed to solve the dispute but the unions have now deferred the strike following an agreement withthe government last Friday (July 1).
Under a new strategic master plan, India Post is currentlyembarking on a large-scale modernisation of the postal network and operations. This includes heavyinvestment in computerisation of the post office network and consolidation of mail operations.India Post employs about 550,000 people, including 300,000 rural delivery workers, and its networkcovers about 155,000 post offices. But the postal network, with about 90% of post offices inrural areas, is repeatedly criticised as slow and outdated, and only about 10% of the 155,000 postoffices have computers.
As part of an operational streamlining, the government departmenthas already reduced the number of Speed Post national centres from 315 to 89. But this has resultedin major delays to delivery times for the express items, according to postal unions. “SpeedPost parcels booked in a district are sent hundreds of miles for processing, and then routed to therespective centre. Articles that were delivered the same day now reach the destination with two tofive days of delay,” the JCA claimed. As a result, customers had lost trust in Speed Post and hadswitched to other providers of express services, it said.
In the next phase India Post wanted to close 366 mail sortingoffices and open 89 first-class mail hubs in their place, and also close and merge 9,797 urban postoffices. But unions claimed that this would also inevitably result in delivery delays, andcustomers “will be compelled to rely upon courier services”. The unions demanded that the SpeedPost network changes should be reversed and the planned changes to first-class mail sorting shouldbe abandoned.
On Friday, the JCA announced that an agreement had been reachedwith the Indian Department of Posts, including “a positive settlement” of its main demands, and ithad thus agreed to defer the all-out strike. Further details were not immediately available.
But the union organisation stressed: “We have made it clear tothe Postal Board that if any violation of the assurances take place, or if orders on the agreeditems are not issued without any delay, the Central JCA will commence the indefinite strike withoutany further notice. We have not called off the strike.”
